Capping-machine for bottles



T. J. LEVEY. CAPPING MACHINE FOR BOIITLES. APPLICATION FILED JULY 23.1911.

1,333,025. Patented Mar. 9,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I l TEW/W 61m" nag T. J. LEVEY.

CAPPIYNG MACHINE FOR BOTTLES.

APPLICATION FILED IULY 23.1911.

1 ,333,025. Patented Mar. 9, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Q3 lli WW 5141/00/11 boa ThomcwLevey, 11,1,

G bbon my I E S -Es PATENT onnion 'rnorras J. LEVEY, or BALTIMORE, A YLAND, AssIGno-ia, BY ivrnsivn ASSIGNMENTS, 1

'ro rnnnmnnn GUTMANN & co umnar,

imw Yonx.

on N W YonK, N. n, a conr-on'arioiv' OF CAPPING-MACHINE BOTTLES.

1 ,333,025. Original application filed January 30, 1917, Serial No.

Specification of Letters Patent.

vPatented Mar. 9, 1920. 145,492. Divided and this application filed July 2,

1917. Seria1No;182,282; r

ToaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. Lnvnr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Capping-Machines for Bottles; and I do hereby declare the vfollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill'enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. f V I This invention relates to bottle capping machines and has. for its object to provide a machine of this nature WhlCh'Wlll be comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, certain in action and more eiiicient in use than those heretofore proposed. .7

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations ofparts more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claim. t p

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 145492, filed January 30, 1917, entitled Bottle capping machine.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views;

Figure 1 is an elevational view partly in section of a, machine made in accordance with this invention; 1

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view ofa portion of the parts shown in Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view taken on the line 3,3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; .1 r Fig. 4 is a detail view partly in section of the operating cam and its associated parts illustrated in Fig. 1; y Fig. 5'is a bottom plan view of the driven fingers or rollers illustrated in Fig. 4; 'and Fig 6 is a sectional elevational view taken on the line 6 6 ofFig. 1, showing the con struction of the intermittent clutch mech-' anism. I

1 indicates any suitable sourceof power for example, an electric motor mounted on the bracket 2and having the driving shaft ,3 adapted to impart motion to the driving b h ch, h ugh me hani m n t l u titted, driven? pave 5112f? earn rigid with the sleeve l i, looseon the shaft 9, and carrying the driving pinion 15, all as will be clearfrom my prior Patent #974402,-dated November )1, 19l0,-and en- I 1 titled Power transmitting device. There are two clutches 11' and clutch levers 13 associated with corresponding driving opinions 15 and:16, as illustrated ,in Fig.1, and they impart motion to a pair ofv vertically movable racks 17and 18. respectively.

These. said racks are respectively rigid with the reciprocating capping head operating rods 19 and 20, associated with their corresponding capping heads '25 and 65. As

the said heads are duplicates of each other, .only the one lettered 25 willjbe described in detail.

. Referringfmore especiallyto Fig.2, the capping head operating rod 19 is associated withian outer barrel 21 in which the said rod 19 reciprocates and the latter is surrounded by the compression spring 22 which is com-. pressedfwhen said rod is moved downwardly by the pinion 15, as seen in said Fig. 3; and

said spring serves to return the parts into the position shown when said lever 13 is re leased in the manner to be disclosedbelovv. Rigid with the upper portion of the rod l9 is the arm 23, which 1 surrounds the tubular member 24-, which is or may be associated \vith the capping head 25, the detail-construction of which is or may be substantially the same as that disclosed in my former Patent #1160084, dated November 9, 1915, and entitled Bottle capping machines.

' That is to say, mounted on theginterior. of the capping head 25 is a mechanlsm s milar to that illustrated in said last mentioned patent which is adapted toCrimp caps around bottle necks that are suitably presented-tothe lower end 66 thereof, as the aidrdd ,1 an arm 3 mo e time 29% a in i ma e: Wfl knbwn.

Going back to the main driving shaft 9,

dwell portion 32 as shown. Coacting with said cam 30 is a plurality of driven rollers, fingers or teeth 33 mounted on the disk or flange 34, carried by the sleeve-like member 35 rigid with the tubular member 36, so that as said roller members 33 are revolved by said cam 30, the said tubular member 36 will be rotated on its center as an axis. The said tubular member 36 is supported by and is revolved in the main frame work 37 as shown, and is rigid with the annular bottle carrying table 38 provided with the pads or cushions 39'preferablv made of rubber and having the cup shaped brass protecting plates 40 as illustrated. The said rigid table member 38 is provided with the tubular extension 42 inside which fits the-hollow adjustable member 43 provided with a pluon to the tubular member 46 which extends up to and receives the flange38 of the spider member 49. Passing through; said spider member 49 said flange 48 and said member 46, is the pin, 50 providedwith'the enlarged collar 51 and the screw threaded lower portion 52 as shown- The said screw threaded lower portion 52 of the pin 50 takesfinto the upper ortion 53 of the tubular member 36 and the upper portion of the rod 50 is suitably provided with a collar 54 tosecur e the .parts firmly together.

Passing through the annular flange 457 is a plurality of vertical guide rods 55 passing through holes inthe individual segments 56 of the cap carrying mechanism, as will be clear from Figs. 1 and 2. Each of these segments 56 is provided with a depression 57 adapted to receive a bottle cap (not shown) and each segment also fits over'a nipple or stud, 58 carried by the tubular plunger member 59 slidably mounted in its corresponding bore 44. Located in said tubular member 59 and bore 44 is a spiral spring 60, one for each segment 56.

' Above the depressible cap carrying sectors 56 there is provided the stationary metal plate 7 6 provided with the orifice504 to accommodate the'capping head 25, which plate serves the purpose of preventingthe caps .from jumping out of the depressions gor apertures 57 during the descent of the capping head 25 or during the rotating of the sectors 56. During the descent of the I capping sectors 36, they are guided by the rods 55 mounted in the annular flange 45,

'and as will be clear from Fig. 4, the said sectors 56 may descend as far as the said flange should it be sodesired. In other words, by adjusting the member 43 carrying the said flange 45, up and down, bottles o'Fdifierent'he-ights may be readilyaccommodated. That is to say, the upper edge of the extension 42 accommodates an adpasting collar or sleeve 77, and the said sleeve may be readily removed and a sleeve of a wider Fig.1, and in order to facilitate the bodily movement of the "said flange 45, a wrench may be applied to the upper end of the rod 50 whereupon the said rod through the screw threads '52 maybe loosened up sufliciently to accommodate any predetermined size of collar 77, and then it may be screwed down 7 so as to hold said collar firmly in place. In other words, it is a comparatively easy matterv to interchange the collars 77 and to thus accommodate bottles of different. dimensions without any material stoppage of the capping operation.

Of course, whenever the length of the bottle is changed the beginning and end of the stroke of the bottle capping head must be likewise changed. In order to accomplish this purpose collars which-may be split collars such as 78 and 79, see Fig. 1, are located on each side ot'the arms 23 and by properly choosing the dimensions of the said collars 78 and 79, the beginning and the end of the stroke of the capping head preferred to use split sleeves'suchas, 7 7 ,see

23 may be located in any desirable positions.

Rising approximately 011 the center line of the machine, is a supporting post 200 and the bottle feeding tables and bottle capping mechanisms above mentioned are located symmetrically on both sides of said center line so that the'bottle capping operations performed by the bottle capping heads 25 and 65 may alternate with each other and thus the capacity of the machine is substantially doubled.

The caps for the bottles are conveniently carried in thehopper 201 and they are fed from said hopper by the oscillating cap feeders 202 and 203 to the chutes 204 and 205 respectively. The said hopper and chutes are of any suitable or desired construction, such for example as that shown in my said Patent 1160084 and the parts are so arranged that bottle caps are presented to the various sectors 56 always with their cork side downward. The said chutes 204 and 205 deliver to .the said sectors .56 at points about 135 fromtheir respective botpoint at which these chutes deliver their tlc capping heads 25 and "65, as may be 7 gathered from Fig. 1, but the particular the capsare delivered to their respective sectors, the intermittent rotation of the sectors in the manner .above'disclosed brings the said caps underneath the bottle capping,

heads. It should be observed that the said cap holding sectors 56 derive their motion from the inclined portion 31 of the grooves of the cams 30 and that the dwell portions 32 of the said cam grooves hold the said sectors firmly in correct alinement with their respective capping heads during the capping operation. Durin the capping operation considerable strain is brought upon the tables such as '38 and 110 and in order to take care of this strain, I preferably provide in the casting 37, directly beneath the capping to receive the projection 213 of atable sup- 'under side of the table 38, for example, and

heads, an adjustable member 210 provided with the screw threads 211 over which screw the adjustable nuts 212. The upper end of said member 210 is bored as shown porting disk 21 1 which fits up against the thus firmly supports the said tables 38 when the capping head 25 is crimping the caponto the head 72 of the bottle 100." Inside each of the tubular members 21 is located a spring 22 as above mentioned and in order to cushion the parts I provide on each of the reciprocating rods 19' and 20 apiston like member 220, see Figs. 2 and 3. The said tubular members 21 are likewise bored out as at 222 to accommodate the reciprocations of said pistons 220. Accordingly, as the comes more or less trapped on the inside of therefore possible to start and stop the ensaid pistons owing to the automatic closure of the check valves 401. Accordingly, said trapped air slowly escapes through the partly closed cocks 100 as said pistons ascend, and thus the motion of the rods 19 and 20 is cushioned on their ascentby said trapped air.

410 represents an opening for admitting air past the valve 401, and 111 indicates an oil cup for feeding oil with the air entering through the orifice 410. .412 represents a circumferentialchannel for the oil and air and 413 connections between said channel and the space above the piston 220. i

Any suitable mechanism may be provided for controlling the clutch mechanism 10, but I have shown a crank 225 mounted ona stub shaft 226, carrying a crank arm 227, con nected by a link 228 to a. similar crank arm 229 carried by a rod or shaft 230, which is connected by a suitable link 231 t'-o the clutch 10, all as will be clear from Fig. 1. It is tire machine by merely moving the. crank gage the pulley 8 from the main 9, as above disclosed. a

The operation of this bottle capping machine will be clear from the foregoing but may be. briefly summarized as follows Supposing the parts to be in the positions illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, upon-starting the motor 1, power will be transmitted from its shaft 3 through the belt or chain 4 to the shaft 5, to the pulley 6, and by the belt 7 passing around said pulley 6, to the pulley 8'. Now supposing the members of the clutch 10 to be engaged by moving the control crank or handle 225 to its starting position, power will further be transmitted from the said pulley 8 through the said clutch 10 to the main or cam shaft 9.

The said shaft having keyed thereto as at the clutch member 11, see Fig. 1, said clutch member together with its pivoted dogs 12 revolve with said shaft. Said dogs 12, as best illustrated in Fig. 6, are controlled by the adjustable spring 500, and since the lever 13 takes against the lug 501, it follows that said lever cannot be released until a predetermined pressure overcomes the compression of said spring 500, all as willbe clear from my said Patent #9741402.

Therefore, the said lever 13 and pinion 15' will continue to revolve with said shaft 9 until this said predetermined pressure has.

to contact with each stud member 58 as it is brought thereunder.

A given stud member 58 being thus brought under the descending pin 71 the segment 56 corresponding to the stud member 58 in question is forced downwardly against the compression of its corresponding spring 60, and a bottle cap, not shown havmg been previously fed to the depression 57 of said member 56, the said cap is brought into proper position above the top 72 of the bottle 100, and the capping head 25 continuing to descend with the rack 17, the said cap is crimped into the bottle head 72 in the manner substantially as described in my said former Patent 451160084. 7

During the capping operation, a certain amount of pressure is brought upon the capping head 25, and is transmitted to the pinion 15 and the lever 13, and the dogs 12 and spring 500- are so adjusted as to cause said dogs to automatically trip or release the.

lever 1'3of the clutch ateach c pp Opel" ation, thus permitting the parts through the action of spring 22 to return to their former positions.

If for any reason, however, the bottle 100 should be abnormally long or its head 72,

j be abnormally large, or if for any other i the capping operation has been completed,

36 and with said tubular member 36 the parts 53, 42, 38, 43 and 45 together with the depressible sectors 56'and pin 50 the spider 19 remaining fixed In other words, after the bottle is turned angularly about 45 and a new bottle and cap is broughtfinto position underneath the capping head where- 7 upon the cycle of operations is repeated.

In this connection it will be noted that the grooves 31 of the said cams are pitched in opposite directions, as indicated by the dotted and full lines in Fig. 1, and therefore, they impart rotation'in opposite directions to the standards 36 carrying the tables 7 38 and 110.

It sometimes happens that no bottle is in place underneath the capping head 25, and in such event-were no means provided, the pinion 15 would pull the rack 17 down be- "yond its normal distance with possible .dis- I actrous results to the machine In order to provide against such a contingency, as well as to insure that the lever 13 will trip with certainty, after each predetermined descent of the rack 17, I provide the cushioned stop 75, see Figs. 1 and 3, which may be made adjustable by means of the screw threads 503, and which is adapted to re ceive the extreme lower end of the rack 17 whenever the said rack from any cause is lowered sufiiciently to contact with the said stop 7 5. r

The importance of the adjustable stops 75 will be appreciated when it is remembered that this machine in order to cap bottles of extreme lengths as well as very short bottles, will provide for a descent of the rods 19 and 20, sufficient to accommodate both sets of bottles and that since the sectors 56, tables 38 and 110 and their associated parts are revolved at predetermined intervals, it is essential that the heads 25 and shall descend and return to their former positions whether there are any bottles to becapped or not, and whether the bottles have brokenor not, and therefore the pro vision of the stops 7 5 insure that the closure willrbe tripped and the parts retained under'all conditions. It is also of especial V advantage in a machine of this nature that which vibrations serve to jolt the bottle caps; out of position as well as the bottles, and

thus cause the capping heads in their descent to crush the bottles. In this machine, on

the other hand, the movement of the parts is so steady that there is no tendency at all for the bottles to become even slightly out of center, and therefore, the machine can be run with certainty of operation at a speed much higher than is ordinarily at tained in prior machines.v

' The reference numeral 80 represents a ring or collar like member which surrounds therigid extension 12, and said ring is pro-' vided with bottle holding fingers 81. 5elow said ring member 80 is a similar ring member" 83 provided with bottle holding fin 'ers 8e, 7 I

is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of the constructions as well as the arrangement ofparts without departingirom the spirit of the invention, and therefore, I do not wish to be limitedv to'the above disclosure except as may be required bythe claim.

-What I claim iszr 1 In an apparatus of the class described the combination of a power shaft; a yielding clutch adapted to normally transmit the power of said shaft to cut 05 said power whenever the resistance exceeds a prede termined point; a reciprocating rodoperated by said shaft; a reciprocating bottle capping head operated by said rod; pneumatic meansto cushion vthe reciprocations of said rod and head; means comprising removablecollars to readily change the points at which said head will begin its strokes to correspond with bottles of different heights; means comprising a positively rotatable table to support the bottles during the capping operation; adjustable means comprising a supporting disk contacting with said bottle supporting means to resist the strain brought on the bottlesupporting means during the capping operation; and adjustable means comprising a stop against which said rod may contact and adapted to trip said clutch and cut off the power of said shaft when said rod has moved va predetermined distance, substantially as described,

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS J. LEVEY. Witnesses ANDREW C. LAWRENCE, Lou se 0. WE SBRQN" 

